The Sway
The Sway is Howard University Graduate School's news publication. It serves to celebrate and highlight graduate student, alumni, faculty and staff achievements and updates. It is published regularly during the academic year.
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We also encourage all alumni to join one of our networks on LinkedIn. The Doctoral Alumni Network can be found here, and the Master's Network here. The Graduate School also regularly publishes updates on its social media channels: Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Bison Trailblazers: Howard Alum Co-Creator for TV Pilot Teaching While Black
by Imani Cabassa-George
Howard’s alumni continue to drive change, open doors, innovate, and create. Dr. Donnetrice Allison is one such trailblazer. Based largely on her own experience as a faculty member at a predominantly white institution (PWI), she co-created, wrote and directed a TV pilot called Teaching While Black with colleague Aaron Moss.
The dramedy follows Shayna Black, a millennial Black professor navigates microaggressions and ignorance as she begins a career in higher education. The award-winning show was screened at the International Independent Film Awards, the Cannes World Film Festival, the International Black and Diversity Film Festival (IBDFF), the Filmteenth International Film Festival, and The Women’s Independent Film and Television Festival.
Allison sat down for an interview with The Sway to discuss the experiences that led her and Moss to create the show. This article has been condensed and edited for clarity.
The Sway: Share a bit about yourself and the experiences that led you to create Teaching While Black.
Dr. Donnetrice Allison: In 1993, I graduated undergrad and was accepted to Howard University to begin my Master’s degree in Mass Communication, but I had no idea how I was going to pay for school. After several phone calls, I learned that if I served as a teaching assistant (TA), I could earn tuition remission. Thus began my journey into the professoriate. I completed my Master’s degree in 1995, and went on to teach at James Madison University on a three-year contract. After this, I returned to Howard to work on my PhD. I continued to teach and work on my degree until I successfully defended my dissertation in 2003 and began my first tenure-track position in 2004. I have been a full-time professor at a predominantly white university (PWI) ever since, and all those years of experience are what led to the idea for Teaching While Black.
TS: As a Howard Alumni, can you talk about your experiences in the communications program or at Howard in general that led you to Teaching While Black? What transferable skills did you acquire at Howard that helped shape this TV program?
DA: The School of Communication at Howard University is where I learned how to teach, and I was part of the Preparing Future Faculty Program in the Graduate School. I remember going through a week-long training when I first became a TA for the School of Communication. The skills I learned are those I still use in my teaching. I learned how to prepare and organize my syllabus. I learned professionalism and built the confidence to go in front of a classroom full of students who, at the time, weren’t that much younger than I was.
Word to the Wise: Christopher Newman
by Anna De Cheke Qualls
There were nearly nearly 12 million Africans involved in the Middle Passage of the transatlantic human trade to the Americas. And there's a map that shows exactly where slaving vessels, or slave ships, landed.
The Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project (MPCPMP), through community-led research has unearthed these sites over more than a decade. In 2023, the Mellon Foundation recognized MPCPMP for its transformative and engaging work through a three-year grant.
Through this award, History PhD student Christopher Newman landed the coveted role of Digital Researcher. At Howard, his research focuses on Nineteenth Century Creole (New Orleans) Voodoo as a form of slave resistance.
“In thinking about my ancestors and their connection to God and desires for liberation, I wanted to know they might have used traditional African indigenous religions as forms of rebellion and resistance against slavery. I wanted to research Voodoo because of its connection to the Haitian Revolution, and the continued stereotypes and misunderstandings it has, especially among Black people outside of New Orleans. Lastly, I wanted to understand how Voodoo was used as a form of resistance, and the racial components that led to its vilification,” says Newman.
At MPCPMP, Newman examines archives, online databases, survey shipping records to identify locations – mainly found along the Eastern portion of the United States, from Maine to Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, and Puerto Rico. Once identified, MPCPMP contacts respective communities to indicate that their city or town was a location where Africans arrived, and a remembrance ceremony is held to unveil a historic marker.
Although the project is primarily focused on the Atlantic and southern regions of the United States, Newman’s research ties directly into the Middle Passage region because Louisiana, and more specifically New Orleans, is an area where many enslaved men and women were transported across the ocean.
In addition to working with MPCPMP, Newman also works as a Community Liaison at the Caribbean Preservation Alliance. He assists in creating safe spaces of communication between Caribbean communities and African-American communities to preserve alliances between the two diasporas. This is often accomplished by hosting panel discussions, blog writing, speaking with community leaders on the issues facing the two communities, and developing cultural initiatives between African-Americans and Caribbean Americans or those living in the Caribbean.
Dean's Corner
When I first heard the news of former graduate dean Orlando Taylor's transition from this life to the realm of ancestors, I admit that my first thought was a bit of disbelief. I'm clear that no one escapes death, but there are some people who walk among us for a while with so much authority that it's hard to imagine the day when they won't anymore. Dr. Orlando Taylor was one of those people. He was a force of nature. Tall in stature and taller in ability, he filled the room in all the ways that mattered. His voice was brilliantly clear, the timbre always perfect for the occasion.
When I was a graduate student at Howard, he was among the intellectual giants the graduate students marveled at. Would we ever be that smart, that confident, that personable? If you dared to introduce yourself to him, the next time he saw you, he'd call you by name. Part of that gift was memory; the other part was care. What was clear to us was that he cared about us and, importantly too, he cared about the work we would do, the people we would become. What I also remember is that, as busy as I know he must have been, he was also accessible to graduate students—but only when we were invested in thinking or being excellent. He had little interest in frivolities. Life was too short not forego a chance to make a lasting impact. The stakes were too high to waste his time or ours.
HBCU Doctoral Career Pathways Conference
Through a joint collaboration between the Graduate School and the Center for Career and Professional Success (CCPS), this (annual) HBCU virtual event brings together doctoral alumni, recent doctoral graduates, and current doctoral students to explore the diverse career pathways available to those with doctoral degrees.
The event features panels of 75+ doctoral alumni focused on the following: non-profits/foundations, the federal government, biotech/pharma, international/world issues, data science, postdoctoral careers, education, communications/marketing, policy/advocacy, research careers (Social Sciences), research careers (STEM), start-ups/entrepreneurship, academia, health and consulting.
Graduate students, alumni, faculty and administrators are warmly invited to attend.
Website: gs.howard.edu/docpathwaysconference
Alumni speaker interest form: here
Conference registration: here
Dr. Orlando Taylor
Howard University is saddened to report on the recent passing of Dr. Orlando Taylor, Emeritus Dean and Professor of the Graduate School and the Cathy Hughes School of Communications. A native of Chattanooga, Tenn. Dr. Taylor was a graduate of Hampton University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in education. He then completed a master’s degree from Indiana University, and a Ph.D. in education from the University of Michigan.
A respected expert in speech-language studies and speech disorders, Dr. Taylor joined Howard University in 1973, following a brief tenure as professor of communication sciences at the University of the District of Columbia. Dr. Taylor served in various positions of increasing responsibility at Howard University, including executive assistant to the president, interim vice president for academic affairs, dean of the Cathy Hughes School of Communications, and chair of the department of communications and chair of the department of communication arts and sciences. Prior to Dr. Taylor’s retirement from the University, his leadership roles included serving as the dean of the Graduate School and vice provost for research.
Dr. Taylor was a nationally recognized communications leader. He was particularly sought out as an expert on access and equity in higher education and preparing the next generation of researchers and faculty members.
A prolific scholar and researcher, Dr. Taylor served as principal investigator for more than $40 million in federally and privately sponsored research, graduate training and program development grants, including programs funded by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of Education, the Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and many others.
Howard will graduate its first-ever Medical Physics Master's student?
Aaron Conard is set to became Howard's first Medical Physics Master of Science graduate.
Aaron told The Sway: "I am deeply grateful to be recognized as the first student to graduate with an M.S. in Medical Physics from Howard University. However, the significance of being the first graduate extends far beyond personal achievement; it symbolizes a concentration of efforts that have worked to increase the likelihood for minority students to enter the field of Medical Physics. In my case, especially, many others should also be celebrated. I'd like to emphasize my gratitude towards Drs. Quinton Williams, Misra, Khan, Bose, Wang, Tu, Deh, Garcia-Sanchez, Dev, Gatica, Chowdhury, Li, Chen, Levi, and the entire Howard Physics department. They are the giants that have maintained and materialized the vision for Howard to be the first HBCU to host an accredited Medical Physics program! Their dedication to excellence and development has set the foundation that will propel Howard University Medical Physics onward and upward."
The Hilltop is 100 years old?
In January 2024, The Hilltop celebrates its 100th anniversary, the nation’s oldest Black collegiate newspaper. The theme for the centennial year: Honoring Our Past. Celebrating Our Future. This is not just a milestone for Howard University, but also a tribute to the steadfast dedication of the countless individuals who have contributed to the evolution and success of The Hilltop during the past century, including multiple Pulitzer Prize and Emmy award-winning journalists.
BisonHub is coming?
The system that faculty and staff currently call Workday and the system students will use for their academic and financial transactions, will now be called BisonHub! BisonHub is Howard's version of the global cloud-based system, Workday. Every month the website below is updated to include new features that students can appreciate. Use this link to access and bookmark the website to stay up to date: bisonhub.howard.edu
Upcoming Events
Virtual Employer Forums
February 6, 2024
12:00 - 1:00 PM - Careers at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory with doctoral alum Dr. Shauna Freeman Castor, and Sharee Harris, Dr. Bradley Childs, Frank L. Trigueros, Antonio White
Registration: here
HBCU Doctoral Career Pathways Conference
March 25 - 28, 2024 (virtual)
Information and registration: here
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